Today various resolution enhancing technologies exist for up-converting or up-sampling standard definition (SD) signals that are to be displayed on a high definition television (HDTV). An SD image is generally regarded as having 480 pixels in the vertical direction, while an HD image is generally regarded as having at least 720 pixels vertically. Some of the various HDTV formats currently being used include 1024×768 (XGA), 1280×720 (720 p), 1366×768 (WXGA), 1280×1080 (1080 i), and 1920×1080 (1080 p).
One technique for performing resolution enhancement of SD video images is referred to as “super resolution” technology, which uses information from several sequential images to create one upsized image. In essence, this technology extracts details from one frame to reconstruct other frames. Other SD resolution enhancement techniques include spatial interpolation and sub-pixel motion compensation. Such resolution enhancing techniques are commonly used to up-convert DVD content for display on an HDTV, for example.
However, heretofore there has been little appreciation for the fact that full HD images also contain imperfections and can thus benefit from image enhancement. Thus, there is still an unsatisfied need for a method and apparatus for enhancement of high-definition video content.